Fragmenta entomologica, Roma, 45 (1-2): 173-179 (2013) A NEW SPECIES OF PARASCYTHOPUS DESBROCHERS FROM SYRIA (Coleoptera, Curculionidae) ENZO COLONNELLI (*) INTRODUCTION Among the material recently collected in Syria by Lucio Saltini was found the new species of Parascythopus Desbrochers, 1875 described in this note, which gave me the opportunity to clarify some problems aros- en with the taxonomy of this genus and of the close Phyllobius Germar, 1824. Parascythopus is now comprised of 8 species primarily distributed in the eastern Mediterranean basin (Alonso-Zarazaga 2013). MATERIAL AND METHODS Measures of the specimens were taken with a Wild M5 microscope associated with an ocular grid as follows. Total length: from base of ros- trum to apex of elytra, as customary for Curculionidae. Pronotal length: from anterior margin of pronotum to tip of its base in front of scutellum. Elytral length: from the middle of an ideal line tangent to shoulders to elytral apex. Pictures were taken with a microscope Leica Z16 APO and the as- sociated program Leica Application Suite 3.1, and then elaborated using the program Adobe Photoshop PS4. Labels of specimens are quoted as written, a semicolon separating lines on the same label. TAXONOMIC REMARKS After the revision by Pesarini (1981), who included in Parascytho­ pus four species, two additional ones have been described, the first of them from the Netherlands where it has been introduced (Heijerman & (*) Via delle Giunchiglie, 56 - 00172 Roma (Italy). E-mail: [email protected] 173 Magnano 2000), and the second from Syria, Lebanon and Israel (Borovec & Magnano 2005). In both these last papers were proposed new keys to replace that by Pesarini (1981), with the scope of correcting some er- rors by this author and including the newly described taxa. To Paras­ cythopus were assigned by Alonso-Zarazaga (2013) the following spe- cies: P. abeillei (Guillebeau, 1897) from Turkey, P. apollinis (Miller, 1862) from Greece and Bulgaria, P. baudii Stierlin, 1892 from southern Italy, P. kadleci Borovec & Magnano, 2004 from Lebanon, Syria and Is- rael, P. mirandus Desbrochers, 1875 from Turkey and Lebanon, P. pini­ cola (Kiesenwetter, 1864) from the Balkans, and P. exulans Heijerman & Magnano, 2000, an alien weevil introduced into Germany and the Neth- erlands. This last species, however, had been previously synonymyzed by Bahr et al. (2012) with the Japanese Phyllobius intrusus Kôno, 1948, an invasive pest known as “arborvitae weevil” apparently imported since long time in North America (Kôno 1948, O’Brien & Wibmer 1982, Dun- can 1996, Morimoto et al. 2006) and now spreading across north Europe (Heijerman & Magnano 2000; Ødegaard & Berggren 2010). This last species was comprised by Morimoto et al. (2006) in Phyllobius Germar, 1824 sensu stricto despite P. intrusus differs from all other known Phyl­ lobius already by its smooth nasal plate and conifers as host plants in- stead of broadleaves, as customary for all members of the genus (Hoff- mann 1950, Frieser 1981, Rheinheimer & Hassler 2000, Morimoto et al. (2006). These are exactly the features of all known members of Paras­ cythopus, so that Parascythopus intrusus (Kôno, 1948), new combina- tion is here moved from Phyllobius to Parascythopus. Of course such a combination implies some questions, being all other known members of the latter genus distributed from central to eastern Mediterranean: is P. intrusus really a native species in Japan or has it been introduced also in this country with some cultivated conifers? The relative polyfagy of P. intrusus can be an ecological factor favorising extensions of ist range, and one can wonder from where this species is native. The close relation- ship between the new Lebanese species described below and P. intrusus is also noteworthy, and leads one to think to an eastern Mediterranean country, where due to harsh conditions grow several kinds of conifers, and in this case it is natural to think to a mountain species seen that P. in­ trusus appears well adapted to cool climate. 174 Parascythopus s a l t i n i i n. sp. DIAGNOSIS. A reliquis speciebus generis facile distinguitur apice ro­ stri ferrugineo, oculis prominuli, pronoto linea longitudinali elevata ca­ rente, funiculi articulis valde elongatis. TYPE SERIES. Holotype ♀ labeled: “W. Syria; env. Slinfah m 1000-1300; 29/05/07; leg. L. Saltini” (Saltini collection, Modena, Italy). Paratype ♀ labeled: “W. Syria; env. Slinfah m 1000-1300; 29/05/07; leg. L. Saltini” (Colonnelli collection, Rome, Italy). HOLOTYPE. Length 7.67 mm. Derm pitchy-brown, mandibles, tip of rostrum, antennae, posterior third of suture, apical margin of elytra and legs ferrous-red. Elytra, pronotum and head densely covered by ov- al bright metallic green recumbent scales some of which show a golden lustre, and of raised whitish to golden semierect rather thick setae point- ing forward on epistome and a little backward on head, pronotum and elytra where they are not arranged in rows. Slightly lifted setae on an- tennae and legs. Rostrum 1.1 times wider than long, with almost straight sides. Epifrons about as wide as half of rostrum, with rather deep longi- tudinal groove delimited by two moderate longitudinal keels. U-shaped epistome bordered between the scobes by a crescent keel, and with a nar- rowly semicircular incision at apex. Scrobes pit-shaped, entirely visible in dorsal view. Eyes moderately large and convex. Head hardly convex, depressed and foveate between eyes, in profile dorsally separated from rostrum by moderate impression. Vertex convex, bare. Antennae quite slender, scape moderately curved, barely thickening towards apex. Fu- nicular segments 1 and 2 elongate, third about twice as long as wide, 4 to 7 slightly diminishing in length, all at least 1.3 times longer than wide. Club fusiform, slightly shorter than the three preceding segments. Pro- thorax 1.25 times wider than long, sides rounded, widest at middle, quite convex in lateral view, anterior margin hardly narrower than basal one and somewhat concave, disc with very faint longitudinal impression at each side of midline. Scutellum triangular. Elytra 1.96 times longer than wide and 1.6 times as wide as pronotum, sides almost straight from hu- meri to apical fourth, then curved and converging towards rather acute apex. Intervals almost flat, more than twice as wide as striae, suture con- vex on posterior third. Striae on basal third formed by subquadrate punc- tures, which next become fine and so approached each other to give rise to subtle lines. Femora strongly clubbed and with an acute large tooth. Tibiae quite elongate, almost straight and only weakly dilated towards 175 apex. Tarsi elongate, first segment more than twice longer than wide, second triangular and slightly longer than wide, third bilobed and trans- verse, fourth projecting from third by a slightly more than the length of third. Segments 3 and 4 of posterior left tarsus are missing. Claws fused on basal half. Habitus: fig. 1. PARATYPE. Length 7.33 mm. Very similar to the holotype, its vesti- ture is somewhat abraded and less dense. Left antenna, fourth segment of mesotarsi and of left metatarsus are missing. Habitus: fig. 2. Spermathe- ca: fig. 3. ETYMOLOGY. The new species is named after Lucio Saltini who col- lected in Syria the only two specimens known. REMARKS. It is impossible to confuse the new species with any other described to date because of the combination of reddish epistome, ab- sence of smooth longitudinal subcarinate line at the centre of pronotum and comparatively elongate segments of funicle and tarsi. Other Paras­ cytopus lacking of longitudinal keel on pronotum have always entirely black rostrum, except some specimens of P. intrusus, from which how- ever the new species immediately differs by its pronotal disk quite flat instead of subcarinate (although not smooth) and much more elongate funicular and tarsal segments. All remaining Parascythopus with reddish apex of rostrum show an obviously carinate pronotum. Study of quite long series of adults of all the species hitherto de- scribed, comprised paratypes of P. kadleci Borovec & Magnano, 2005, and Japanese examples of P. intrusus and Dutch paratypes of its syno- nym P. exulans Heijerman & Magnano, 2000, allows to propose the key below which should facilitate recognition of all Parascythopus described to date, taking into account the great variability of some of its members. 1 Pronotum with a smooth and shiny median longitudinal area ................................. 2 1’ Pronotum withouth such an area .............................................................................. 6 2 Reddish apical plate of rostrum contrasting with the blackish colour of the remaining part of it .................................................................................................................... 3 2’ Apical plate of rostrum of the same blackish or brownish colour of the remaining part of it .................................................................................................................... 5 3 Elytral interval 8 clothed by bright green scales similar to those on intervals 1 to 7, and strongly contrasting with the almost bare basal half of interval 10 and interval 9 which bear sparse piliform recumbent setae. Striae formed by fairly large subquad- rate punctures. Length: 6.10-7.20 mm. Turkey .................... P. abeillei (Guillebeau) 176 3’ Elytral interval 8 clothed by the same piliform or slender lanceolate recumbent scales covering the intervals 9 and 10.